Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Let's make the Caucus Digital!




Black Friday or Political Caucus? It's hard to tell File:Black Friday by Powhusku.jp
The Utah caucus are done and after viewing the results all I can say is "Hallelujah"! It was amazing to see so many people out to vote on both sides of the isle. It's inspiring to see democracy in action but how can we improve it? I think we need to get even more people involved by taking the caucus into the digital age. 




I was shocked at just how many people maned to pack themselves into the tiny Wasatch Elementary School in Provo and how many people (myself included) had no idea how to navigate the herds of people.

Although the Republican one was packed my friends who were "feeling the Bern" said that the Democratic had over a 2 and 1/2 hour wait, with most of the wait inside. 

Is it really necessary for people to wait in long lines, sometimes in the cold, just to vote? Is this really facilitating good political dialogue or is it just discouraging voter participation?

Let's find a better way to get people involved in the political process through online voting and other digital means. To be honest I'm not entirely sure how to go about this. However, I think that if we used tools such as Google Hangouts, live stream YouTube and other tools we could help solve the issue. Why can't we all listen to good, substantive dialogue without having to go in person to do so? 

Talking to friends afterwards, of both political parties, was where the #realtalk about politics and the different candidates took place. Maybe the answer is we just don't need in person caucuses anymore. 

1 comment:

  1. I agree that a digital caucus would definitely improve efficiency. However, i'm not so sure that the #realtalk you mention is that real. While going to the caucus was painful for me as well, it gave me exposure to people and ideas I never would have experienced through my own social circles.

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